Buried Treasure

Chapter Five

"Many many years ago when the captain was only 13 years old a pirate ship docked in port of one of the twelve cities. She's never told any of us where. But back to the story. Well the captain was fascinated with pirates. The way they rode the seven seas like the wind. The way they lived their lives the way they wanted. Thieving, drinking, sailing." The men cheered and took a gulp of rum.

"One of the crew members was around the same age as she. He showed her the way they lived and she was hooked. Decided to throw away the life she had and join the Pirates. She planned on running away the next morning when the ship would set off again. But everything changed the moment she got home." Jason continued as Percy listened intrigued.

"She never discussed her parents, only that her father never had time for her and her step mother hated her. They barely noticed when she came home at dawn. All except that day. When she returned home late that evening, her father was waiting for her, with a brander. We all got branded. It's what marks us for who we are." Jason said and showed his on his arm, just as Percy's. "Hers was different. After some time all wounds heal, but not the captains. Word had gotten around that she was seen with pirates and soon it got to her father. At home....she saw the brander and ran, hoping to lock herself in her room and run that night." All was silent as Jason told his tale.

"Her father caught her, broke her wrist in the struggle and branded her. Except it wasn't on her arm. No one knows where it actually is, but we do know that before he branded her...it was set in the fire...and then soaked in molten silver." Jason watched Percy pale. "We've all had the same reaction. The silver made it so her brand would never fully heal. He wanted to punish her."

Jason moistened his lips with a sip of rum and continued. "The pirates she was running away with, were hanged the next morning and burned. The ship, was left and once she managed to leave her fathers sight, she packed a bag of everything she had, which wasn't much and ran. At 13 and with no prior knowledge of sailing, she alone commandeered the pirates ship and sailed from the twelve cities, leaving everything behind. The only token of her past; the never healing 'P' and the Argo ll." Percy's sea green eyes widen. This was the ship of those hanged pirates.

"As the years went on, a crew began to form and we became the most feared band of pirates of the seven seas. And she was leading us." Again another drink, passed the lips of the first mate. "And that my fellow pirate is Annabeth's story."